Women In The Gym: Not Only The Treadmill

That article is about Women In The Gym: Not Only The Treadmill. If you’re a female who’s getting started in the gym, one of the most important things that you must make sure you do is venture into the weight lifting section.

Time and time again, if you scan the local gym you attend, you’ll see a great division of the genders. There tends to be a flock of females taking up space in the cardio area and a herd of males lifting weight in the free weight section.

Women naturally tend to gravitate to the cardio machines as they have the mistaken belief that they’re going to get big and bulky by picking up more than a few pounds. Sadly this belief is further fueled by the growing presence of testosterone-filled males by the weights.

But, you really must think differently. As a female you really do not have the potential to bulk up to such a large extent. Instead, weight lifting will only cause you to increase your metabolic rate, burn fat faster, and allow you to achieve curves in all the right places.

Let’s look at why you won’t bulk up, so that you can finally put these fears to rest.

You Don’t Have The Testosterone

The first reason why you won’t bulk up to a large degree like a male would is because you don’t have the same set of sex hormones as he does. Males have a very high amount of testosterone and a very low amount of estrogen.

Females on the other hand have a very small amount of testosterone and a very high amount of estrogen.

Testosterone is the hormone that helps to develop plenty of lean muscle mass, which is why males, at the age of hitting puberty, naturally tend to bulk up. Estrogen opposes testosterone.

Due to this hormonal profile, females would never be capable of building muscle as quickly as a male would.

You Don’t Eat The Calories

Second, you simply don’t eat enough calories. Building high amounts of muscle mass, especially quickly, would take hundreds of calories more than what you’re currently eating.

As most women tend to eat far too few calories in the first place because they’re so scared about gaining body fat, this simply won’t be an issue.

You have to eat big to get big.

Time Is Not On Your Side

Finally, the last reason why females won’t bulk up like a male would is because the process is simply too slow for a woman. While a male may be able to add 1-2 pounds of pure muscle mass to his frame, a female would build muscle at a rate of a quarter to half that.

This means you may add 3-6 pounds of lean muscle mass a year. Think that’s going to turn you into the hulk? Obviously not.

So it’s time to lay your fears of getting big and bulky to rest. You could lift as heavy as you possibly could and you wouldn’t see yourself getting more male-like by the day. Instead, you’d actually start to produce a body that you were in fact happy with.